National Republican., 1887-03-28

depths Of the sea. The dove Of heaven |
brought an olive branch to the ark. The |
wrath Of the billow only pushed him toward |
heaven. 1.-THE LORD shut him In" IL
The same door tastenings that kept Noah
In keep the world out. am glad TO know
that when man reaches heaven all earthly
troubles are done with him. Here he may
have had II hard to great bread for his
family; there he will never hunger any
more, Here he may have wept bitterly;
there "the Lamb that is in the midst Of the
throne will lead him TO living fountains Of
water, and God will wipe away all tears
from bis eyes" Here he may have hard
work to get house; but In my Fathers
house are many mansions, and rent day
never comes. Here there are death.beds,
and collins, and graves; there no sickness,
no weary watching, no choking cough, no
consuming fever, no chattering chill, no
tolliDg bell, no grave. The sorrows Of life
no admittance. The perplexities OF life
shall come up and knock on the door, but
no admittance. Safe forever All the
agony Of earth In one wave dashing against
the bulwarks OF the ship Of celestial light
shall not break them down. Howl on, ye
winds, lind lar, and Ira rage, ye seas The Lord-"the
o, what grand old door so wide, so
easily swung botn ways, and with such sure
fastenings. No burglars key can pick that
lock. No swnrthy arm of hell can shove
back the bolt. rejoice that do not ask
you to come aboard crazy craft with leak.
Ing hulk, and broken helm, and unfastened
door; but an ark fifty cubits wide, and 800
cubits long, and door 30 large that the
round earth, without grazing the posts,
might be bowled in.
Now, il the ark Of Christ is so grand a
place IN which to live and die and triumph,
come into the ark. Know well that the
door that shut Noah in shut the world out;
and though, when the pitiless storm came
pelting on their heads, they beat upon the
door, saying, "Let me In let me in p' the
door did not open. For 100 years they
were invited They expected to come IN,
but the antediluvians said, awe must cul
tivate these fields; we must be
ESFh S.1Gs more nf cata: SIh' 81 M s6eep w5i 9na
until we get little older; we will enjoy
our old farm little longer" But mean-
while the storm was brewing. The fountains
Of Heaven were filling up. The pry was
being placed beneath the foundations Of the
foundations Of the great deep. The last
YEAR had come, the last month, the last
week, the last day, the last hour, the last
dropped from the sky, and another rolled
up from beneath and God rolled the earth
and sky into one wave Of universal destruc-
tion.
go men now put off going into the ark.
They say they will wait twenty years first.
| They will have little longer time with
their worldly associates. They will wait
until they get older. They say =: "You can.
not expect man Of my nttainments and Of
my position to surrender myself just now.
But before the storm comes, will go In.
Yes, will. / know what l am about.
Trust me-" After awhile, one night about
i2 o'clock, going home, he passes scat
| folding as a gust Of wind strikes It, and q
plank falls. Dead ! and outside the ark
Or, riding In the park, q reckless vehicle
crashes into him, and his horse becomes
unmanageable, and he shouts, "Whoa |
whoa % and takes another twist In the
reins, and plants his feet against the dash
board and pulls back. But no use. 1t is
not SO much down the avenue that he flies
wreck Of the crash his body Is drawn, but
his soul is not picked up. 1t fled behind a
swifter courser into the great future. Dead
and outside the ark! Or, some night, he
wakes up with distress that momentarlly
increases, until he shrieks out with pain.
twenty drops, but no relief; forty drops,
fifty drops, sixty drops, but no relief. No
time for prayer. No time to read one Of
the promises. No time to get single sin
pardoned. The whole house is aroused in
alarm. The children scream. The wife
taints. The pulses fail. The heart stops.
The soul flies. oh, my God dead! and out
side the ark!
Ihave no doubt that derlsion kept many
people out Of the ark. The world laughed
TO see man go in, and said: "here is a
man starting for the ark. Why, there will
be no deluge. If there Is one that misera-
BILE ship will not weather It. Aha going
into the ark Well, that is to good to keep:
Here, fellows, have you heard the news
This man is going into the ark" Under
this artillery Of scorn the mans good reSo.
luton perished.
And so there are hundreds kept out by
the fear Of ierision. The young man asks
himself, "What would they say at the store
to morrow morning If / should become a
house they would shout, Here comes that
new. Christian. Suppose you will not have
anything to do with us now; suppose you
are praying now. Get down ON your knees
and let ms hear you pray. Come, now,
give US q touch. VIII not do 1t, eh:
Pretty Christian you are.'n Is II not the
fear Of being laue ehed at that keeps you out
scorners will help you at the last? When
you lie down on u dying pillow. which OF
them will be there? In the day of eternity,
will they bail you out?
l. Ny friends aud neighbors, come In right
away. Come in through Christ, the wide
door-the door that swings out toward YOU
Come in, and be saved. Come and be
happy. "The Spirit and the bride say
come" Room lin the ark Room in the
ark
But do not come alone. The text invite,
you to bring your family. "Come thou and
all thy house." That means your wife and
your children. You cannot drive them In
II Noah had tried to drive the pigeons ant
the doves into the ark, he would only have
scattered them. Some parents are not wis,
about these things. They make iron rule.
about Sabbatbs, and they force the cate
CHEM down the throat, as they woult
hold the child's rose and force down
dose OF rhubard and calomel. You canno
drive your children into the ark. You car
draw your children to Christ, but you can
not coerce them. The cross was lifted, no
to drive, but to draw. "If be lifted up,
will draw all men unto Me-" AS the su,
draws up the drops Of morning dew, sc
the sun OF righteousness exhales the tears
OF repentance.
"Come, thou and all thy house, into tn
ark" Be sure that you bring your husband
and wife with you. How would Noah hav'
felt II, when he heard the rain pattering OF
the roof of the ark, he knew that his wifi,
was outside In the storm9 No; she wen
with him. Ana yet some Of you are on th,
ship "outward bound" for heaven, but you
companion Is unsheltered. You remembe
the day when the marriage ring was sot
Nothing has yet been able 10 break 1t
Sickness came aud the finger shrank, bu
the ring staid on. The twain stood alon
above ehild's grave, and the dark mouth o
the tomb swallowed up thousand hopes
but the ring dropped not into the opeI
grave. Days Of poverty came, and tn
hand did mApy n hard days work; but TIN
rubbing Of the work against the ring onl,
made 1t shine brighter. Shall that rim!
ever be lostP WIN the iron clang of tn
stpulcher gate crush 1t forever l pra
God that yon who have been married OF
earth may be together in heaven. Obi b.